At first glance, they look like colorful spaceship renderings done by someone with far too much time on his hands. They’re not spaceships, though, because they’re actually CAD renderings of the next-generation engine that will be used on the new Chevrolet Corvette. I know, right? It’s not exactly the cleanest of presentations, but thanks to some expert sleuthing from members of Corvetteforum.com, they’ve uncovered what they believe to be the bones of the new powertrain.

I understand how some of you may have confused looks on your faces. Believe me, I had the same reaction when I first saw these photos. They’re not exactly informative in the way fleshed-out renderings usually are. But take a closer look at them and you’ll see some revealing information.

The first thing to point out here is that these renderings reveal the Corvette’s sub-substructure and engine. Corvetteforum.com member Corvetteforum.com even broke down some intriguing aspects of the engine. Take the traverse leaf spring, for example. That component appears to have been removed and replaced by coils. He also observed how the suspension of the car looks particularly beefy, especially the transaxle. I can’t say with certainty if it’s a similar setup to the last few ‘Vette generations, but I wouldn’t be surprised if Chevrolet did use some parts from the current C7 Corvette for the next-gen model. Even the engine bears some resemblance to the current 6.2-liter LT1 V-8 engine that’s powering the Corvette, right down to its mid-engine configuration and the presence of the upturned headers and transaxle.

Other observations we noticed include what looks to be a shorter and more compact exhaust manifold and large front brakes. The latter could be a sign that the next-gen Corvette will be putting a premium on braking, presumably on top of a lot of other things.

There have been some questions about how this rendering was made public just a few weeks before the next-generation Chevrolet Corvette makes its debut at the 2018 North American International Auto Show. Did it come from some rogue Chevy employee? Is it a planned stunt from Chevrolet to generate some buzz ahead of the car’s debut in Detroit? Personally, I’m not going to bother coming up with answers to these questions. The important thing is that the C8 Corvette is coming. Whatever questions we may have about it will be answered soon enough so there’s no point wracking our brains looking for one.

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Chevrolet Corvette

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